The Shadow Lands
by Vialco
Summary: Ezra Bridger returns to his Master in failure...and pays the price.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

A jet-black starfighter reverted realspace, it's matte-black hull all but disappearing from sight in the black empty void. It's pilot adeptly maneuvered the controls and sent it rocketing forward, the huge Novaldex engines firing at full power. Ahead of it loomed a large red planet, it's surface covered in huge swathes of deep crimson forests and wide, magenta deserts, both so vast that they were visible from orbit. In the far eastern reaches of the northern hemisphere rose a wide expanse of mountain ranges, appearing as a series of raised brown bumps from the visibility of orbit.

As the pilot brought his ship down into the atmosphere, he reflected over the tense confrontation he'd left before coming to this world.

" _You lied to us, Ezra!"_

 _Hera's voice was high-pitched with an undertone of disapproval and betrayal._

" _You told us that supply ship was deserted."_

 _Ezra met her pale green gaze unflinchingly._

" _I knew you wouldn't want to risk it if I told you the truth."_

" _So you just lied? How can we trust you anymore?"_

 _A look of disappointment crossed Hera's face._

" _Ezra, do you see what you're becoming?"_

 _Ezra felt the now-ever-present rage beginning to stir beneath the surface of his thoughts._

" _What I'm becoming is_ _ **effective**_ _. I got you fifteen crates of proton bombs! You wouldn't have any if it wasn't for me!"_

 _Hera drew back at the naked anger in Ezra's voice and Commander Sato spoke up._

" _Commander Bridger, we are grateful for your assistance. Do you have anything else for us?"_

 _Ezra turned to the greying officer._

" _Not right now, Commander. I'll be in touch soon."_

 _Sato gave him a curt nod, then placed a hand of Hera's shoulder and drew her away, speaking to her in low tones._

 _Ezra watched them go, and then turned to Rex, Sabine and Zeb who were standing behind him in the briefing room._

" _Kid, I don't care how many proton bombs or anything else you get for us," Zeb bellowed angrily, "If you yell at Hera like that again, I'll-aggh."_

 _The Lasat's sentence ended in a cry of surprise as Ezra raised a hand towards, curling it into an arc. Zeb's body began to rise up from the floor, caught in Ezra's Force grip._

" _What're you doing-ackkk!"_

 _Zeb's hands went to his throat, clutching in vain at the invisible power that was slowly squeezing his windpipe closed._

 _Ezra's scarred face twisted into a look of pure hatred._

" _I am so_ _ **sick**_ _of everyone_ _ **telling me what to do!**_ _"_

" _Ezra!" Sabine cried out, "Ezra, you're killing him!"_

 _She grabbed his arm and shook his violently._

" _Ezra, stop!"_

 _The young whirled on her and glared at her, his deep blue eyes glowing a sickly red-rimmed yellow on the edge._

 _Rex made a shocked noise at the sight and Sabine took an involuntary step back. Then, her eyes narrowed in determination and in a swift motion she brought up her right hand and punched Ezra in the nose as hard as she could. A sickening crack sounded in the air and Ezra staggered backwards in pain, his hand going up to his face as a hot jet of crimson blood sprayed from his nose._

 _Zeb abruptly crashed to the floor, released from Ezra's Force Choke as the young man's concentration vanished._

 _Ezra stumbled back and tripped over one of the briefing room's chairs to land flat on his back. Clutching at his bleeding nose, the young Rebel lay on the ground, his hands pressed to his injured proboscis. After a few tweaks, he managed to re-set his broken nose. Swiping at the steady dribble of blood, the young man looked up and found himself staring down the gleaming muzzle of a WESTAR-35 pistol._

" _Get up Ezra," Sabine ordered, "And keep your hands at your sides or I swear I will stun you."_

 _Staring at the weapon's emitter tip for a long moment, Ezra lowered his hands to his sides and slowly rose to his feet, blood dripping freely from his nose._

" _Start walking," Sabine ordered, gesturing with her free hand towards the briefing room exit._

 _Ezra blinked a couple times, both from the pain in his head and from surprise. The scarlet and ochre faded from his eyes, returning the twin orbs to their natural electric blue color._

" _Where am I going?" he managed to ask in a shaky voice._

" _Landing pad," Sabine replied coldly._

" _I don't care how much good you've done for Phoenix Squadron. You're leaving Chopper Base right now."_

 _Ezra remained silent, his eyes going soft with remorse._

" _Sabine, I…"_

 _The Mandalorian girl held up a hand._

" _I don't want to hear it, Ezra. I really don't. I've been making excuses for you ever since you came back. But I was fooling myself."_

 _She clicked the safety off her pistol and tensed her finger behind the trigger._

" _So, you can leave right now, free and clear. Or I can stun you and drag your sorry carcass to the brig."_

 _Her hard gaze bored into his._

" _Your choice."_

 _Ezra swallowed hard for a moment. Then he turned towards the door and started walking. Sabine followed right behind him, keeping her blaster trained on the small of his back._

 _It was a long, silent, awkward walk to the landing field. They both got several questioning glances from Phoenix Squadron personnel on their way there, but Sabine waved them off, insisting she had it under control._

 _Once they reached Ezra's jet-black A-wing, Sabine stepped back and pointed at the open cockpit._

" _Get in," she said coldly._

 _Ezra didn't comply, instead staring at Sabine with a remorseful expression._

" _Sabine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"_

" _Shut up, Ezra," the Mandalorian retorted sharply._

 _She glared at her long-time friend with anger and more than a bit of hurt in her expression._

" _Get in and get lost. Don't ever come back here again."_

 _Ezra swallowed hard and then, with sadness clearly visible in his eyes, he obeyed, climbing into the cockpit in silence._

" _I'm sorr-" Ezra said, trying one more time to apologize._

" _You tried to_ _ **kill**_ _Zeb, Ezra!" Sabine shouted, "Just because he was telling you off."_

 _She took a few steps back to get clear of the A-Wing's liftoff._

" _You need to leave and not come back for a long time."_

 _Ezra nodded once and began the liftoff procedures, the canopy closing with a click. The repulsors whined and the ship rose up into the air. Glancing at Sabine through the transparisteel, Ezra spoke softly into her mind._

"You're right, Sabine. I don't what I'm becoming. Tell Zeb I'm sorry."

 _The A-Wing rose into the sky and rocketed away, disappearing from Sabine's sight within seconds. Once it was completely gone, Sabine let out a deep sigh and her shoulder slumped. A single sob escaped her throat as the black curtain of Atollon's night fell on the coral mesa._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Ezra brought his fighter low into the crimson world's atmosphere, diving for one of the thick forests on the sprawling lowlands. A barren clearing lay in sight below, a bare patch where the thorny trees seemed to halt, as if afraid to encroach.

Landing his fighter in the center of the circle, Ezra popped open the canopy and hopped out of the cockpit in a high leap that brought him to the edge of the clearing. Looking ahead at the narrow, twisting path between the trees that lead to his destination, Ezra doffed his black flight helmet and rubbed his nose tenderly.

He'd had a chance to apply a bacta bandage to his bruised nose during the flight to Dathomir, but the thing still stung intermittently.

 _There is no pain where strength lies_

Maul's teachings echoed in his mind and Ezra shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't afford to have any doubts in his mind when he faced his Master. Drawing on the Force for strength and calm, Ezra drew himself up and strode down the path, weaving between the gnarled trees and razor-sharp bushes. After nearly a quarter of an hour, the path opened up on another clearing that stood before a towering series of statues. Made from the same reddish stone that was everywhere on Dathomir, the effigies were vaguely feminine, all with upraised hands. Resting on their open palms was a great stone barrier upon which was emblazoned a gaping mouth.

When he'd first set eyes on the structure, Ezra had been awestruck, but now he merely strode towards the slit between the statues that led into the towering structure. Making his way through the dimly lit antechamber, Ezra followed the sloping floor as it led further downward until it came out on a vaulted, dimly-lit cavern.

The cave stretched wide for hundreds of meters in every direction, with the only illumination coming from widespread, shallow pools of a strange liquid that glowed an alien green in the darkness and a handful of fiery-orange orbs that were mounted on dark stone pillars. Striding swiftly through the cavern, Ezra made his way to a large domed building that stood at the far end of the cavern, surrounded by one of the eerie tarns.

Ezra ascended the stone steps of the building and crossed the threshold into a stone hallway that curved around the entire building. Moving further ahead, Ezra came to a gaping doorway that had been carved from the living stone of the dwelling. Steeling himself, Ezra tried to summon his anger to draw the Force around his mind in a protective barrier, but he found his rage was eluding his grasp. Ever since Sabine had hit him and snapped him out of his rage-blind haze, he'd been unable to bring himself to feel angry again.

In truth, he admitted to himself, he felt _ashamed_. Ashamed that he'd lost control of his anger and attacked one of his best friends. In the depths of his heart, Ezra was afraid that he was losing control of his powers as he had on Fort Anaxes years ago. But then, he'd had Kanan to help guide him through the experience and bring him back to himself. Now, he though, staring ahead at the darkened doorway, he had a different teacher. One who wouldn't be so tolerant of his weakness.

Taking a deep breath and drawing the Force to him without anger or hatred, Ezra strode through the dark entrance, his confident stride belying his inner conflict.

Stepping into the main chamber of the building, Ezra entered a dusky, sunken chamber that was lit only by a handful of the same gloworbs he'd seen outside. Situated in the center of the room was a long, narrow, stone table. An octet of high-backed chairs surrounded the table, with three at each side and one at each end. Only one of the high seats was occupied however. At the far end of the slab sat a lean, hooded figure, hunched over a shimmering crystal sphere that glowed with an inner amber light. Garbed from head to toe in matte-black robes of a strange cloth, the figure didn't seem to notice Ezra as he entered the room, but as he approached the head of the table, the hooded form abruptly straightened up and fixed him with a piercing look.

"Ah, my apprentice," Maul hissed in a sinister voice, "Welcome home."

Ezra felt the first burst of anger at that comment. His home was on the _Ghost_. Not in this abandoned cemetery of a village. But he knew better than to say that to his Master. Instead, he bowed his head in a gesture of respect.

"Thank you, Master," he said in what he hoped came across as respectful. He could never tell what Maul was thinking, even after spending three months with the former Sith Lord.

"I trust your mission was a success?" Maul asked in a soft tone.

Ezra unbent his head and nodded.

"Yes," he said, reaching into the small pouch at his hip and removed the head of the Super Tactical Droid he'd decapitated on Agamar. Extending his hand, he held the object out to Maul, who reached out with his bare red-and-black hand and took it.

Running his fingers over the metal, Maul stared at the droid's dead eyes for a long moment. Then he abruptly stood up from his seat.

"Come, my apprentice," he said with a hint of triumph in his voice, "Let us see what secrets our departed friend had in his head."

Maul stepped around Ezra and exited the room, moving so smoothly and evenly that Ezra would never have known that his Master's lower half was mechanical, had he not already seen it with his own eyes. Following his Master, Ezra and Maul exited the dark lair and made their way back outside to the larger cave. Heading to a large outcropping that was far from any of the lakes, the pair came to another table. This one was lower and made completely of metal with a full hologram projector built into the base.

It was one of the few technological aspects of their headquarters, one that Ezra had helped Maul install in his first week as Maul's apprentice. Maul threw his hood back as they came to the analysis table, revealing his scarlet-and-onyx features in the sickly light of the cavern. His face was alight in a rare look, which Ezra had only ever seen on him once before, in the Holocron Chamber in the Malachor Sith Temple. It took him a moment to realize what it signified.

Triumph.

Placing the head on the table, Maul deftly connected one of the analysis cables to the back of the mechanical cranium. All at once, the droid's eyes lit up and the holo-table began to hum as it's main processor began to sift through the data. Maul manipulated several of the controls with his slim fingers and images began to appear above the table and vanished just as quickly. This continued for several minutes, though none of the images made any sense to Ezra. Suddenly, the sequence froze on one image, that of a vast, rectangular space station, orbiting around a gaseous planet.

"There it is," Maul said, his voice almost a whisper.

"There what is?" Ezra asked in bafflement.

"The _key_ ," Maul replied, his voice almost reverent. 

Ezra felt a spike of impatience. Both the Sith and the Jedi had a tendency to speak in cryptic words and he was sick of it.

"The key to _what_?" he demanded.

Maul turned to face him and Ezra felt a moment of trepidation as he stared at his master's nightmarish face. Maul's ochre eyes bored into him and Ezra began to fear he'd overstepped.

But Maul simply grinned, displaying surprisingly white teeth.

"The key to our victory," he said simply, leaving it at that.

When Ezra was opening his mouth to ask for more details, Maul raised a finger to forestall him.

"All in due time, my apprentice."

Ezra subsided, his anger starting to resurface at his master's condescension. In this way, Maul was even worse than Kanan had ever been. Both Master's had always held back knowledge from their apprentice until such time as they deemed they were ready.

"Now," Maul continued, his eyes still boring into Ezra.

"What became of your secondary objective?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Knowing that this was the moment of truth, Ezra gathered all his willpower-Force energy, anger, determination-and met Maul's gaze unflinchingly.

"A complete success," he replied in a confident voice.

"Phoenix Squadron accepted my offer and joined me on the mission. They came away with a full supply of proton bombs, as I had promised."

He squared his shoulders and straightened up to his full height.

"I sowed the seeds for future cooperation and an eventual alliance. Just as you asked."

Maul's eyes continued to drill into Ezra's and the young man felt Maul's Force presence pressing against his mind, slithering along his mental shields, searching for a crack. Summoning all of his power, Ezra bolstered his mental defenses and continued to meet Maul's terrible gaze.

"I completed my mission," Ezra continued defiantly.

Maul said nothing and just continued to stare at his apprentice.

Ezra shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, feeling his defenses straining under Maul's scrutiny.

Finally, Maul spoke in a light voice.

"And what of your friends, Ezra? Did you enjoy seeing them again?"

A flash of guilt and shame burst into Ezra's mind and he relived that awful moment of choking Zeb.

The searing, red haze of rage that had crept over him.

The sight of Zeb writhing in mid-air, clutching at his throat.

Rex's anger and Ezra flinging him against the wall without touching him.

Sabine's horror at his actions.

The feeling of her fist against his nose.

Anger. Pain. Blood. Shame.

Suddenly Ezra was back in that moment, sitting in his A-wing's cockpit, his nose aflame with pain and the hot, wet glimmer of tears in his eyes, staring down at Sabine.

" _You're right, Sabine. I don't what I'm becoming."_

Ezra could see the last sight of Sabine, standing on the landing deck, staring up at him with a mixture of sadness and determination on her face. He felt a stab of sorrow in his heart at the sight…and then that stab became a surge of frigid horror as he saw someone else beside her. Standing next to Sabine, a malicious grin on his demonic face, was Maul.

The Nightbrother's fiery yellow eyes gleamed with triumph and he stared directly up at Ezra and began to laugh. The mocking, evil laughter filled the cockpit and assailed Ezra's very senses and in the back of his mind he wondered how he could hear Maul's voice through a space-tight canopy.

The entire scene fell apart at that moment and the distant sight of Sabine and Chopper Base vanished into darkness and Ezra found himself on his knees, staring a dark, rough stone floor. But the dark laughter remained, a deep chuckling that still filled Ezra's ears.

Blinking away hot tears pricking at his eyes and ignoring the pain in his hands from the rough stone, Ezra braced himself and stood up. He was still in the Dathomir cavern, standing before Maul. His Master had a cruel smirk on his terrifying visage.

"Well done, my apprentice," Maul remarked, amusement saturating his every word.

"Very well done. You almost hid this from me. Almost."

Ezra couldn't say anything. His mind was still reeling from reliving the painful memory. He could feel his face burning with shame and the tears were still lurking at the edges of his eyes. Clenching his fists at his side, Ezra refused to let them fall. He would not humiliate himself any further. Blinking them away, the young man stared defiantly up at his Master.

"It had nothing to do with the mission," he said after finding his voice. His words sounded weak to him and he could hear his voice cracking.

"Indeed," Maul replied, surprising Ezra by agreeing with him.

"Your Commander Sato will not take issue with your angry outburst. Not when we can provide him with more materiel for his war."

Ezra blinked.

"Then-why did you…?" He stopped mid-sentence, not sure what to say.

Maul just smiled and then began to walk to the center of the cavern, where a low stone altar stood. He gave Ezra a small Force-tug to indicate he should follow. Ezra obeyed and once they reached the altar, Maul turned back to face his student.

"You tell me, apprentice."

He began to stalk around Ezra in a wide circle, his loping prowl reminding Ezra more than anything of being hounded by a Loth-wolf.

"You attacked your friend," Maul continued, his voice suddenly coming from everywhere in the vaulted grotto.

"Why?"

Ezra thought about it for a moment, trying recall what had set off his fit of rage against Zeb.

"He…made me angry," Ezra replied slowly.

"And?"

"I felt so angry," Ezra went on, "I couldn't…. control it."

Maul stopped in front of him and looked at him again.

"And?"

"I lost control," Ezra said in sudden realization.

"I was so angry and I lashed out and it was so instinctive…" his voice trailed off in renewed understanding.

"I lashed out with the _Force._ "

At Maul's encouraging nod, Ezra went on.

"I've gotten so used to utilizing my anger to draw on the Force and strike out with it that the lines between feeling anger and using blurred and I attacked the source of my rage without thinking…."

His voice trailed off again.

This time, Maul finished his sentence for him.

"And _that_ is the importance, my young apprentice."

He gestured about the cavern with his long arms.

"The Dark Side is the source of our power. It only comes to us through anger. We need our rage to open the door to that great power."

He pointed a finger at Ezra's chest, jabbing it right at him.

"The rage you feel is becoming a natural part of you, and that is good. You can draw more and more easily on that power. This is the way to becoming strong. But…"

He raised the finger in warning.

"There is a lesson that all who use the Dark Side must understand, a lesson that far too many never heed."

He abruptly loosed a snarl and curled his hand into an arc.

Ezra was jerked off his feet into the air so rapidly he didn't have any time to react. An invisible vise clamped down on his throat, so hard that he gagged. Pain exploded from his throat and he tried to take a deep breath only to find the air wouldn't enter his lungs. He stared at Maul in horror as his Master curled his hand into a fist and choked his apprentice with the Force.

Black spots began to form in Ezra's vision as his body began to suffer from oxygen deprivation. Summoning all the Force energy he could, he threw it at Maul in a concentrated burst. But his Master was ready for him and had already raised his other hand and resisted Ezra's attack, barely budging his stance.

"This is the lesson," Maul said in an exacting tone.

Ezra's lungs burned from the lack of air and he kicked his legs helplessly in the air.

"Pain, hate and anger are the pathways to power. But above all, _control_ is essential."

Maul clenched his fist tighter for a moment and Ezra felt the pressure on his throat tauten so hard he thought his neck would snap. And then it was gone, as suddenly as it had appeared.

Maul's hand opened and Ezra dropped to the floor with a thud. Lying there, he gasped like a Dathomir scalefish out of water. Taking deep, desperate gulps of air, he inhaled precious breaths of oxygen, thinking that he'd never felt anything so sweet before.

A hand darted down to grab his chin and he found himself staring into Maul's horrible face.

"Above all else, _control_ is key. Control your fear, control your anger, save them for when you need them. Otherwise, they will become your masters and you will become _their_ servant."

Maul released him suddenly and Ezra's head dropped back down to the hard stone floor.

"And that, my apprentice, will cost you very dearly. As it did me…"

His voice trailed off and left the cavern completely silent save for Ezra's quietening breaths.

After several long minutes, Ezra managed to roll onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, his chest rising and falling slowly. Maul loomed over him and, to Ezra's surprise, extended a hand, presumably to help him up. Containing his shock, Ezra reached up to take it and Maul hauled his apprentice to his feet. Ezra swayed on his feet, still dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Maul placed a warm hand gently on his back, steadying him until he could stand on his own.

Ezra took a few more painful breaths before looking back up at Maul.

"I…" he trailed off, not sure what to say. At a loss for what to do, he fell back into old habits and dropped to one knee.

"What is your bidding, Master?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Rise, apprentice," Maul said.

Ezra did so.

"You have crossed a threshold with this latest trial," Maul said in an instructional tone.

"You are ready to become a true Dark Side warrior."

Ezra looked at his master as he stood in front of the stone altar.

"How do I do that?"

Maul smiled and in a single swift motion, withdrew his lightsaber from his belt, extended it towards Ezra and ignited it. The crimson blade blazed to life with a snap- _hiss_ and stopped a centimeter from Ezra's throat. The young man froze in place, shocked at being placed in near-mortal danger by his master twice in mere minutes.

Compelling his eyes to look away from the iridescent blade hovering near his already-injured throat, Ezra moved his gaze to Maul's saber hilt. A matte grey cylinder of longer length than Ezra's, Maul's saber was not the cobbled-together blade that he'd employed against the Inquisitors on Malachor or against Ezra on Viszla Keep 09. Apparently, his master had built a new blade while Ezra had been away on his most recent mission.

"Tell me, apprentice," Maul said conversationally, as if his lightsaber wasn't a hairsbreadth from skewering his apprentice.

"Do you know why my lightsaber is red?"

Ezra forced himself to relax, telling himself that this was just another one of Maul's intense lessons and that he wasn't a centimeter away from death.

"I…don't know, Master," he replied.

When Maul merely arched an eyebrow at the unsatisfactory response, Ezra tried to formulate a better one.

"I-I know that the kyber crystals are what determine a lightsaber's color," he said.

Maul gave him what passed for an encouraging nod between Master and Apprentice.

"My first lightsaber was blue," Ezra continued, "But when I made my second one, I used the same crystal and while I was attuning it, it somehow turned green. But I don't know why…"

He'd wondered about that when he'd forged his current saber, mere weeks after the disaster at Malachor. But Kanan had already retreated into himself at that point and Ezra had never had a chance to ask his Jedi Master why the kyber had shifted color.

"Another deficiency in the Jedi teachings," Maul shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Listen, my apprentice, and learn."

He flicked his free hand and Ezra's lightsaber leapt off his belt and flew to Maul's side. Hovering in front of the Nightbrother, Maul twitched his fingers and Ezra's black-hilted lightsaber began to come apart in front of his eyes. The emitter ring and activator plate came off first, dropping to the rocky floor with a light tinkle. Ezra bit back a protest at the unceremonious dismantling of his weapon. The hilt casing came off next along with and the power cell and in a few seconds Ezra's lightsaber was lying on the cavern floor in pieces. All that remained in the air was a small thumb-sized green crystal that shimmered in the dim cave with a strange inner light.

"You say that this crystal was once blue, Apprentice?"

Ezra couldn't nod for fear of cutting himself on Maul's ignited saber.

"Yes, Master. When I first received it."

Maul raised an eyebrow as if to ask where Ezra had received it from. Then he shrugged and continued with the lesson.

"And when you assembled this lightsaber, it became green?"

"Yes, Master. But why did it change color? How can a crystal just change like that?"

"Because, Apprentice, the kybers are, in their own way, _alive_."

Ezra's eyes widened at the revelation.

"The Force flows through the kybers, and it resonates inside them. When a Jedi attunes a kyber to make their lightsaber, they bond with it and create a partnership with them. This bonding turns the crystal a certain color. In your case, you must have already created a bond with your kyber when you first received it, as it was already blue."

Maul's gaze hardened, "But this is _not_ the way of the Dark Side. The Dark Side does not ask. It _takes_."

The kyber began to revolve slowly in mid-air as Maul studied intently.

"In order to force the crystal to serve your needs and only yours, it must be _bled_."

Ezra gaped at his master.

"But-the crystal isn't alive," Ezra protested, "How can you make a rock bleed?"

Maul gave an exasperated sigh and flicked a finger at Ezra. The emitter guard of his blade leapt up off the floor and rocketed past Ezra's face, scraping his right cheek along the way. The young man winced at the graze and felt Maul's displeasure in the Force.

"I just told you, apprentice, the kybers _are_ alive, in their own way."

With an exhalation, Maul deactivated his blade and placed it back inside his robes. Calling Ezra's crystal back to his hand, Maul stepped closer to Ezra and placed it in his hand.

"Feel it, apprentice. Hold it in your hand and _feel_ it."

Ezra did so, folding his palm around the kyber and closing his eyes. Stretching out with his feelings, he began to sense a faint pulse of life inside the crystal. Like a strangely soothing song that was so quiet he could barely hear it. But it was there nonetheless, a pleasant tune that was at once familiar and alien to him.

Opening his eyes, he looked back at his Master.

"I do feel something."

"Good," Maul said with a note of satisfaction in his voice.

"The kyber is bonded to you already. But that is the Jedi way. As you grow stronger in the Dark Side, this bond will not serve. For the kyber to truly serve you as a Dark Side warrior, you must bend it to your will."

Ezra's grip tightened on the crystal until it's sharp edges cut into his palm. His pulse quickened at the thought of becoming a full-fledged Force-Wielder. He would finally have the power he'd been seeking for years. The power to destroy the Sith and their Empire.

"How do I bleed the kyber?" Ezra asked.

Maul bared his white teeth in what Ezra thought was meant to be a sincere smile, but still came across as rather frightening.

"You will need to pour your anger into it. Your rage, your pain, and your hate. You must turn those emotions into Dark Side power as I have shown you and then force it into the crystal until it bleeds a bloody crimson. Only then will it serve your will."

Ezra nodded, "I understand."

"Beware," Maul warned, "The crystal is currently alive with the power of the Light Side. You will need a great source of Dark Side energy to shift its orientation and turn it dark."

Ezra frowned and glanced around the cavern.

"You said that this place is strong in the Dark Side. Can't I do it here?"

Maul shook his head.

"This place is strong in the Dark Side, but the energy is too attuned to the power of the Nightsisters. It will be…ill-suited to bleeding your kyber. Fortunately, there is another world known to us that is attuned towards more, shall we say, conventional Dark Side power."

Ezra looked at his master in bafflement.

"I don't know any other worlds that are strong in the Dark Side," he said.

Now Maul's smile grew ghoulish and Ezra could feel the Force ripple with his amusement.

"Oh, but you do, apprentice. In fact, you know this world quite well. It's the very place where we first met."

The blood drained from Ezra's face and his voice became a horrified whisper.

"No…. not _there_."

Maul's laugh was cruel and high and echoed off the cavern's high walls.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The shifting blue-white tunnel of hyperspace fell away to reveal the inky-black void of realspace as the jet-black A-wing returned to reality. Hanging in space directly ahead of it was a large grey-white orb that steadily grew larger as the starfighter approached it. Behind his dark flight helmet, Ezra gazed at the growing white orb with a mixture of anticipation and fear. He'd had nightmares about this planet on and off for almost a year now and the last time he'd been to this planet, it had been the worst day of his life, where he'd lost very nearly everything.

The A-wing's huge Novaldex engines carried it into Malachor's atmosphere swiftly. Ezra knew from his last trip that the constantly swirling white clouds that surrounded the planet could disrupt sensors and he stretched out with the Force instead, sensing the path down towards his destination. Recalling the route, the _Phantom_ had taken in on his first trip, Ezra had no difficulty bringing his A-wing down through the clouds and into the lower atmosphere. Within a few minutes he could see his destination below him on Malachor's desolate rocky surface.

Protruding up from the stony exterior of the planet was a single wide crater with a slate-grey surface filling the entire interior. Clustered around the center of the depression in a circle stood an octet of dark stone pillars, surrounding a jagged hole in the crater floor. As Ezra drew close, he could see that the pillars were scorched and charred with some of them broken in half and other so badly withered that they were barely standing. Much of the crater was showing evidence of serious damage, no doubt, Ezra knew, from the massive explosion that had destroyed the Sith temple buried beneath the basin's surface.

Bringing his A-wing down through the gaping entrance between the pillars, Ezra descended beneath the surface of Malachor. As his ship dropped into the sprawling underground Sith complex, Ezra glanced around the vast subterranean chamber. Much of the squat black structures that were scattered across the cavern floor appeared exactly as they had on his last visit, over nine months ago, seemingly untouched. The tall pyramidal Sith temple that occupied the center of the subterrane was decidedly not.

A towering, four-sided pyramid, the Sith Temple had once been a smooth, dark edifice with numerous intricate patterns emblazoned across its surface in blood-red inscriptions. The explosion that had taken out the Temple's primary ignition chamber had blasted apart the triangular point that had occupied the summit. The four sides of the Temple were sporting deep black scars that had all but obscured the once-fine engravings on it's walls.

Jerking the yoke forward, Ezra brought his A-wing down to rest at the edge of the flat scorched base that once housed the Temple's ignition chamber. After doing a quick scan to confirm that the air in the cavern was still breathable, Ezra unbuckled his crash webbing and popping his canopy, Force-leapt from his acceleration couch to the charred surface of the Temple's apex.

Landing lightly on his feet, Ezra glanced around his blackened surroundings. The dark stone of the Temple summit was cracked and fissured in many places, with shards of crimson crystals and golden circuits scattered everywhere. Picking his way through the debris, Ezra made his way slowly to where the ignition keystone had been. According to Maul, it was the locus for all the Dark Side energy in the complex.

As he drew closer, Ezra opened himself fully to the Force, extending his senses to encompass the entire pyramid. He could sense the innate power of the place almost instantly. The Force in the entire cavern was dense with dark power, thick and malignant and potent, but the blasted remains of the summit was practically choked with it. Ezra could feel the Dark Side power circling around him, whispering in the ancient voices of the Sith that had fought and perished at this site millennia ago.

 _Peace is a lie, there is only passion_.

Ezra shook his head to try and rid himself of the disembodied murmurs, but they persisted.

 _Through passion, we gain strength._

Ezra felt the Dark Side beginning to course through his veins, almost involuntarily. He shuddered violently at the sensation. He hadn't realized it on his first visit, but the Dark Side of the Force was so strong on this planet that it nearly dominated the Force around it, like a cloud of black smoke, so thick and dark it blocked the Light from view. It had come to his aid in his fight with Seventh Sister on the Temple's lower tiers without him even knowing, letting him hold his own against an opponent that had easily bested him in previous encounters. But even the unknowing aid of the Dark Side hadn't been enough to aid him against Darth Vader in the ignition chamber.

Ezra flinched at the memory of the all-too-brief fight with Vader and how he'd been so easily bested by the Dark Lord. Unarmed and helpless against the Sith Lord's fury, Ezra had only barely avoided a swift and painful death thanks to Ahsoka's timely intervention. He balled his gloved hands into fists at the humiliating memory and felt the Dark Side swell around him, responding eagerly to his anger. He forged swiftly ahead, using the latent energy around him to shove obstacles and debris out of his way. The ruins of the keystone obelisk were scattered around a wide black circle, the long, narrow structure having exploded into several pieces. As he stepped to the very center of the summit, Ezra spotted a dark humanoid shape lying near one of the larger obelisk shards.

Turning towards it, he took a few steps away to get a closer look…and gaped in horror.

The figure was an adult Togruta female. A very familiar Togruta female.

Ezra stared in horror at the blackened, dead form that had once been Ahsoka Tano.

The Torgruta's fair orange skin and blue-white montrals were black as pitch, as were her once-blue eyes. She was lying prone on the floor, where she must have been when the Temple's main weapon had misfired. As Ezra studied her closer, his jaw going slack from dismay, he saw a small, hand-sized hole in the fallen Torguta's chest.

A wave of fury rose in him, consuming his grief and burning it to molten cinders. Vader must have done that, he thought. The last he'd seen of Ahsoka before the Temple door had come down, nine months ago, she'd been locked in mortal combat with Vader. Ezra had since learned, from both Rebel Intelligence and Maul, that Vader had survived the encounter. That meant Vader had dealt Ahsoka her mortal wound before escaping the explosion and leaving Ezra's friend to be flash-burned by the unrestrained kyber energy of the Temple.

Ezra's anger swelled from a roaring fire to a raging inferno. He felt his hands and legs shaking from the hatred coursing through his veins. It was always the Empire. The Empire and the Sith. The former had taken his parents and the latter had taken his friend. They'd taken everything from him and he'd been too weak to stop them. Vader's mocking words echoed in his mind.

 _Your master has deceived you into believing that you can become a Jedi._

The tempest of anger writhed and thrashed about inside the young man's body. Ezra felt as if every cell in his body were aflame with a wild energy that he could barely contain. His vision began to glaze over in a crimson haze as it had on Atollon and he felt so angry that he thought he might explode and he opened his mouth and loosed a single, furious scream of rage.

"Nooooooo!"

It was as if an invisible bomb had detonated on the Temple summit.

The shockwave of Ezra's anger exploded outward, hurling shards of black stone, scarlet crystals and golden wires in every direction. The sheer force of the rageful outpouring threw everything on the Temple summit towards the edges. Ahsoka's burned corpse was caught in the whirlwind of dark power and went sailing over the edge of the apex. The debris littering the zenith went flying in every direction and Ezra's parked starfighter trembled on it's landing skids, nearly following Ahsoka's body into oblivion.

"No!" Ezra shouted in dismay as he watched his friend's mortal remains disappear from sight. Yet another casualty of his inability to control his power. All of the anger drained out of Ezra in a moment and he dropped to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes. Cursing himself for being so weak and losing control yet again, Ezra balled his hands in fists and tried his best to blink away the signs of his weakness.

He wasn't weak, he told himself. He was strong. He would get even stronger. He would crush the Sith and the Empire. He would save the Galaxy and show his friends that his way was right.

"I'm not weak!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, shouting into the black empty void of the desolate cavern.

Rising to his feet with renewed determination and focus, he strode to the very center of the singed platform. Standing at the cynosure, he withdrew his kyber crystal from a hip-pouch on his utility belt. The small green crystal still shone with a soft inner light that seemed out of place in the smoky darkness of the Sith Temple cavern.

Holding the gem in front of him, Ezra raised it into the air with a mental command. The stone hovered in the air above him, still shining with a pinprick of inviting emerald light, alone in the all-consuming darkness.

Thinking back to his hatred of Darth Vader and the Empire, Ezra summoned back the world-crushing fury of a few moments ago. Focusing on the crystal floating in front of him, Ezra called the Force to him, feeling it rush into him with a hot torrent of power. His limbs began to tremble again with the sheer amount of energy flowing into him. Calling on all that power, Ezra brought it to bear on the levitating kyber and hurled all his rage and hatred at it.

The crystal vibrated under the force of Ezra's rage, shaking as if in terror, and then it unleashed a blinding wave of emerald light. The wave hurled Ezra off his feet and sent him flying a half-dozen meters to land on his back on the hard stone floor. His limbs aching from the impact, it took Ezra a moment to sit up straight. Rubbing the back of his head, he looked up…and saw an impossible sight.

Standing before him was a familiar figure. With light skin and brown hair tied back in a small ponytail, the figure was a man. He was cladded in recognizable yellow vest and grey trousers. His light blue eyes were staring directly at Ezra with warmth and his fair features were curved into a gentle smile.

"Hey, Ezra," said Kanan Jarrus.

Ezra gaped at his lost mentor, disbelief and longing welling up inside him.

"Kanan!" he shouted in incredulity.

"You're here!"

Kanan smiled down at him in that gentle, caring way that Ezra had missed so much these past nine months.

"I'm here, Ezra," he replied warmly.

"You're not alone anymore."

He extended a hand down to Ezra and the young man took it unhesitatingly, letting Kanan pull him to his feet. Giving into months of hoping and wishing, Ezra leapt towards his teacher and enveloped him in a crushing embrace.

"Oh Kanan, you're here. You're really here!"

The Jedi Knight returned his apprentice's embrace with a smile, patting him on the back affectionately.

"Of course, I'm here, Ezra. I'd never leave you. You're my responsibility."

Ezra just hugged his mentor, relaxing in Kanan's comforting embrace. He felt safe for a moment, as if all his worries and cares had lessened. He didn't have to face the Galaxy alone anymore. He had his Master back.

Kanan hugged Ezra for another moment, then gently released him.

"Come on, Ezra," he said, "Let's get off this rock. Hera and the others are waiting for us back home."

Ezra smiled at that thought, then hesitated for a moment.

"I don't know if they'll want to see me," he admitted shamefully, "I've done some bad things while you've been gone."

Kanan shrugged, his blue eyes alight with optimism "We'll make it right, don't you worry Ezra. There's nothing broken that can't be fixed."

Kanan began to head for the edge of the platform where the _Phantom_ was parked. After a moment, Ezra followed him and they left Malachor behind for good. Before Ezra knew it, they were back on Atollon and he was standing on the landing pad of Chopper Base where he'd left an angry and melancholy Sabine mere days ago.

Hera, Zeb and Sabine were all standing there, looks of concern, welcome and resentment on their face. Ezra slowly approached them, his head held low in shame and guilt. He felt Kanan pat him on the shoulder and give him a single reassuring squeeze.

"They'll forgive you, Ezra. That's what family does. Just say you're sorry and mean it."

Coming to stop in front of his adopted family, Ezra managed to raise his head up and looked them in the eye.

"I…I'm sorry," he said, his cheeks coloring in embarrassment and remorse.

"Hera, I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was wrong."

The green-skinned Twi'lek smiled and drew Ezra close, enveloping him in a maternal hug.

"I forgive you, Ezra," she said softly in his ear, rubbing head in the familial Twi'lek fashion. Letting him go after a minute, she gave him a gentle shove towards Zeb.

"I think there's someone else who really deserves your apology, though."

Turning towards his adopted brother, Ezra swallowed hard, a solid lump forming in his throat. He resisted the urge to look back at Kanan for reassurance.

"Zeb," he began, "I…I can't say anything that makes what I did to you right." He took a deep breath and bowed his head in a Lasat gesture of submission.

"All I can say is that I'm sorry and I won't ever do it again."

He felt a solid fist slam into his shoulder and he almost fell to his knees. Awaiting another blow, he kept his head down, but when none came, Ezra looked up. Zeb had a grudging smile on his purple-furred face.

"Don't let it happen again," the Lasat said with a frown on his face but a faint smile in his eyes.

Deciding that was the best he was going to get from Zeb, Ezra turned to the last person on the landing field.

Sabine was looking at him with a smile on her olive-skinned face, her pale purple hair framing her beautiful features. Her brown eyes were alight with warmth and affection and she stepped towards her friend.

"I hoped you'd come back to us," she said with love in her voice. Ezra took that as an invitation and stepped forward to wrap Sabine in a gentle embrace.

"I'm sorry, Sabine," he said apologetically, "Sorry for everything."

Sabine's lean form rested against Ezra's muscled body.

"I forgive you, Ezra," she whispered against his chest, "I forgive you."

After a long moment Ezra let Sabine go. As he did, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and turned to see Kanan smiling at him, his light blue eyes filled with love and pride.

"I'm proud of you, Ezra," he declared, "You're becoming the man I always knew you could be."

Ezra blushed and smiled at the warm words of praise. Kanan just beamed and looked fondly at his apprentice, his blue eyes shining in the bright midday Atollon sun.

Ezra stared at those bright eyes and couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Kanan smile like that. Not since before Malachor and the disaster there. Not since the day Kanan had lost his sight and retreated into himself and abandoned Ezra.

His sight…

Ezra suddenly gazed sharply at Kanan, examining his face and seeing no sign of the horrible injury that Maul had inflicted on his Master. No scars, no burns. It was as if Kanan had never been blinded at all.

A frigid tendril of suspicion blossomed in his stomach and he glanced around at the rest of his family, then back at Kanan.

"Kanan," he asked slowly, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"How did you get your sight back?"

Kana kept smiling as if not really having heard Ezra's question.

"What are you talking about, Ezra?"

Ezra heard Hera approach from behind him.

"Ezra, Kanan never lost his sight."

"Yeah, kid," Zeb said, stomping up, "You're talking crazy."

The levity vanished from Ezra's face, an unspoken dread taking it's place.

Turning to the last person on the pad, he said "Sabine, tell me this is real," he said.

"Tell me you found a way to heal Kanan's eyes and this is all real."

When his friend said nothing, Ezra looked at her with desperation.

"Please!" he begged, "Tell me this is real! Tell me I can come home and we can be a family again!"

A look of sadness crossed Sabine's face and she stepped forward, reaching up a hand to stroke Ezra's cheek.

"I'm sorry, Ezra," she said dismally, a look of gloom marring her lovely features, "But you can't go back. You can never go back."

A cold wind swept across the landing field and dark clouds formed above, obscuring the sunlight from view and plunging the entire landscape in a cold, grey twilight. Sabine's body began to fade into nothingness and before Ezra could say anything else, she had disappeared completely. Gaping in horror, Ezra spun to Hera and Zeb. The Twi'lek and Lasat looked at Ezra with sadness, their physical forms beginning to go translucent.

"No!" Ezra shouted and made a grab for them, his hand going through their fading forms as they disappeared completely.

His face twisted in fear and denial, Ezra whirled to face Kanan, his features pleading and desperate.

"Kanan!" he shouted, "Please don't go. Don't leave me alone."

Kanan grew very still, his face going grey under the darkness of the field. His features became grave and mirthless and his bright eyes grew cold and dull, the color fading from them completely until they were a pair of sightless white orbs gazing out at Ezra with cold accusation.

Ezra's breath caught in his throat and he stared at his teacher with a look of utter horror.

"You did this to me, Ezra," Kanan said in a cracked broken voice that barely sounded like him.

"You trusted Maul on Malachor. You let him join us. You're the reason I'm blind."

Ezra's mouth dropped open in complete shock.

"I…didn't mean for it to happen," he tried to explain.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Kanan, please don't go!"

Kanan's body began to go translucent as the others had, his form going pale and grey as the Atollon sky.

"You did this to yourself, Ezra," Kanan said, his voice sounding distant and hollow and without another word, he vanished into nothingness.

Alone on the landing field, Ezra fell to his knees in dismay and as he braced himself against the cool permacrete of the landing field he felt the wind pick up around him. Shutting his eyes, he let out a scream of anguish and remorse that echoed across the desert. Suddenly the gale ceased and all sound faded away from his ears.

Opening his eyes, Ezra rose to his feet and looked around. The sky was black as space and his surroundings were as silent as a crypt. He was still on the summit on the Malachor Sith Temple.

Staring ahead, he saw a glint of green in the inky darkness of the cavern. Striding ahead, he looked down to see his kyber crystal, still shining with it's mysterious inner light. As it vibrated on the floor, Ezra gazed down at it and abruptly realized that the harrowing vision he'd just experienced had been generated by the _crystal_.

Fresh fury exploded in his chest and with flick of the Force he brought the gem up to drift in front of him.

"You did this!" he shouted at the glimmering kyber, rage filling his heart and dark Force energy trembling in his hands.

The kyber remained silent but it's light flickered wildly as Ezra brought his power to bear on it again. Remembering it's reaction the first time he'd tried to subdue it, Ezra reached out with his right hand and seized it. Closing his fist on the stone, Ezra summoned the Dark Side to him, calling up all of his anger from his heart and using it to draw the Great Energy to him.

The Temple summit began to tremble from the sheer amount of power being summoned from around it. Ezra went even deeper into the Force. He could feel the lingering malignant energies around him, remnants of the Temple's superweapon blast and the latent power that suffused the cavern.

Drawing on his hatred for Darth Vader, the Empire, and, secretly, Maul, Ezra drew all that power into him. His body began to tremble from the sheer amount of energy that was coursing through it. Taking all that power, Ezra began to focus it, commanding it to do his bidding. Slowly, surely, it began to obey, heeding his will.

Bending all his thoughts on the kyber in his hand, Ezra began to force the great energies he'd summoned into the tiny stone. The kyber vibrated furiously in his tight grip as it tried to resist the dark power being poured into it. The soothing song that the had been the crystal's pulse became a horrible screech of pain. The kyber throbbed in agony, screaming at the alien power Ezra was forcing into it.

Shaking so hard it almost leapt out of Ezra's palm, the kyber let out a single, final shriek of pain and a wave of scarlet energy exploded outward from it, bathing the entire cavern in crimson light for a moment. The energy threw Ezra backwards again, but he refused to let go of the crystal even as it burned his hand with the backsplash of it's transformation energies.

Ezra landed a dozen meters away from the summit's center, falling hard on his backside. Wincing in pain at the impact as well as the searing pain in his hand, the young man took a moment to gather himself before rising. He felt incredibly weary from the exertion.

The light had faded from the cavern, returning it to the near-impenetrable darkness that was its natural state. Standing up with an effort, Ezra looked down at his hand which was covered in angry red burns. Slowly, he opened his fist, afraid that the kyber was still capable of resisting and might try to escape him after all his efforts. His fears were unfounded, and resting quiescently in his palm was the same coruscate crystal he'd come to Malachor with. But where the crystal had previously shone with a soft inner green light, it now gleamed an alluring, warm red.

Glancing down at the blood-red jewel in his hand, Ezra Bridger allowed himself a fierce, jubilant grin of triumph.


End file.
